52 MEMOIR OF COLONEL TUPPER.
dominion of the Spaniards. In pursuance of this object, battalion No. 8 was embarked at Coquimbo in January, 1824, and landed on the small island of Quinquina, in the bay of Talcahuano, where it re- mained until the preparations were completed. The troops were formed into three divisions, and Captain Tupper was named second in command of the third, but the nomination giving great umbrage to several majors and lieutenant-colonels who had been passed over, this arrangement was annulled, and battalion No. 8 was directed to take the advance. The expe- dition reached Chiloe on the 24th of March, and the next day battalion No. 8 gained possession of the fort of Chacao, which offered but a slight resistance. On the 31st, a detachment consisting of two battalions, Nos. 7 and 8, and the grenadier company of No. 1, disembarked at Delcague, and at noon on the 1st of April commenced its march, through a very woody and broken country, towards the town of San Carlos. Two companies of grenadiers, under Captain Tupper, formed the vanguard of this detachment. A strong Spanish force awaited them in ambush at Mocopulli, which is an immense bog surrounded by underwood, having a masked gun on an adjacent eminence. The grenadiers and No. 8 marched through the mouth of the defile perfectly unconscious of their danger, and when within a few paces of the enemy so murderous a fire was opened upon them that they were thrown into the utmost confusion. The enemy was invisible, and in a short time two hundred of the patriots had fallen, while No. 7 halted in the rear and refused to advance. Captain Tupper is represented as having behaved here with the most devoted heroism, charging twice into the thickets with the few grenadiers who
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